The Collector

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12

Chapter 1

The day was sunny, Twilight Sparkle trotted merrily through Ponyville Park. She looked around, admiring the scenery. Suddenly, she heard a scream from some bushes nearby, she turned and ran in the direction of the scream, and skidded to a halt as three fillies ran out of the bush. The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran into Twilight and fell to the ground. When they got up, they began yelling things at Twilight so quickly that the unicorn couldn’t understand them.

“Hold on! What happened?” She asked.

“We were trying to get our cutie marks when we saw something in the bush, we didn’t know what it was so we went to investigate and it was a pony!” Scootaloo bolted out.

“There’s a pony in there?” Twilight ran to the bush. She pushed through it and found an unconscious, (at least she hoped unconscious) pony lying in a twisted position. She was a blue unicorn that had a mane stripped with white and a dark blue. Twilight gasped at the sight. She recognized the pony as Colgate, Ponyville’s only dentist. Twilight reached out and gently shook her. Colgate slowly opened her eyes, and then closed them. Then they shot open and Colgate began yelling and flailing around, struggling to get free of the bushy prison. Twilight jumped back and watched. Finally, Colgate became worn out and closed her eyes again.

“Please don’t hurt me…” she muttered as she lost consciousness again.

Several hours later, at Ponyville hospital, Colgate woke up screaming. She quieted down when she realized there was no danger. She looked around the room panting.

“w-Where am I?” she asked.

“You’re in the hospital. Twilight Sparkle found you unconscious in some bushes.” A doctor entered the room.

“In some bushes? Where is Twilight? I need to talk to her.”

“She’s in the waiting room. She refused to leave until she knew you would be alright. I’ll go get her.” The doctor left and Colgate took a deep breath. She didn’t know if it was a dream or reality, but there was only one way to be sure. She lifted the blanket up and looked down at her flank. She half –expected to see an hourglass sitting there, just as it always had. Her eyes teared up at the sight of her flank. Just her flank.

Her Cutie Mark was gone.

There was a knock at the door and Twilight Sparkle entered the room. She smiled, but it quickly faltered as she saw Colgate Crying.

“What’s wrong?” She asked. “Is everything alright?”

Colgate sniffed and wiped her eyes. “No Twilight, it’s not alright. He took it.”

“Who took what?”

"Twilight, I was attacked last night. Somepony attacked me and knocked me out. I woke up and they did something to me, then they knocked me out again.”

“What did they do? Did they hurt you?”

“They took my Cutie Mark!” Colgate yelled. “It’s gone!” She began sobbing uncontrollably, Wrapping her hooves around Twilight for comfort. The purple unicorn looked around the room in confusion, not really sure what to think of the situation. She pulled away from the uncomfortable embrace and looked Colgate in her tear-stained eyes.

“What happened?” Twilight’s stare could bore holes in concrete. Fluttershy would’ve been proud. It wasn’t a hostile stare, but one of a deeply concerned friend. “Actually, don’t tell me yet. I’m going to call the police.”

Colgate nodded and shrunk down beneath the covers of the bed. Twilight took one last look at her before she turned and left the room. She used a payphone to call the police.

A few minutes later, the police had arrived. A few officers and a detective entered the room with Twilight and the doctor.

“Colgate, tell us what happened, okay?” Twilight asked. Colgate nodded and took a deep breath. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

“It all started a few days ago, I was doing a routine examination on a new patient, his teeth were pretty bad, and we got to talking about my career as a dentist, and how my cutie mark didn’t seem to match my profession. I finished up the examination normally and he left. The day progressed normally for me, and I closed the office and went home like normal.”

“Go on, tell us more.” The detective spoke up.

“Well, I felt like Somepony was watching me, I kept glancing over my shoulder on my way home and I just got this creepy feeling whenever I passed by a dark alley. I got home safely, but this happened for two more days. Then on the fourth night, I was walking home and a pony jumped out of a dark alley and jumped me. He put a rag over my face and I passed out.”

“Anything else?” The Detective looked up from his notepad and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, I woke up, I don’t know how much later, and I was tied to a metal table with leather straps. A masked unicorn did some weird stuff to me and then used some magic. It was really painful and then my cutie mark disappeared. He put the rag over my mouth again, saying something about his “collection” and then I passed out again.”

“Interesting. Can you describe this pony to us?”

“No, I couldn’t see his face because of the mask. The only thing I know is that he was a stallion, but he wasn’t very strong. I almost got away by fighting back but then he put that rag to my face. And his voice was really raspy and wheezy, also, his breathe was really bad.” Colgate was beginning to relax a little. Twilight could see that she wasn’t as upset as earlier.

“Colgate, is your Cutie Mark really gone?” Twilight dared ask. She immediately regretted it as Colgate’s eyes began to grow watery again. Colgate lifted the blanket to show off her blank flank. The detective took down some more notes and handed something to Twilight.

“Miss Colgate, I’m sorry about what happened to you but I really can’t help you with a description like that. I can name ten stallions right off the bat that have bad breath and a raspy voice. And the randomness of this event doesn’t exactly help your case any. I’m sorry, but there is nothing left that I can do.” He turned to leave. Colgate and Twilight stared dumfounded as the officers left. Colgate burst into tears again and Twilight wrapped her in a warm embrace.

“It’s all right, Colgate. Look.” Twilight held up the paper the detective had handed her. Colgate wiped her eyes and read it.

Colgate looked to Twilight. There was a small twinkle of hope in her eyes.

“What do you think that means?” She asked.

“I don’t know for sure, but it looks like we might get some help after all.”

Chapter 2

I'm sorry we can't help you. This case is bigger than you realize. There is a pony in Canterlot working on this case. I'll let her know about this. If you're willing to work with her we might be able to stop this criminal. Again, I'm really sorry about what happened.

A few hours later, Colgate was checked out of the hospital. She didn't want to go home, she was afraid to be alone right now.

"Twilight?" She asked. "Do-Do you think I could maybe stay at your place tonight? I don't want to be home alone in case he comes back."

Twilight stopped walking and looked Colgate in the eye. "Of course you can. Let's stop by your house and pack you a bag. We're going to Canterlot in the morning"

"Why are we going to Canterlot?"

"To get help. That note the detective gave me said to go to a café in Canterlot to meet somepony who can help us."

Colgate sighed. "Twilight, I appreciate what you're doing, I really do, but you don't have to do this for me. This doesn't involve you."

"Yes it does. A friend of mine was hurt, and I'm going to everything I can to help you."

Colgate smiled and looked Twilight back in the eye. "Thank you." she wrapped her hoof around Twilight in a warm embrace. Twilight returned it after a moment, not quite sure how to respond.

"It's no problem, really Colgate. I'd do it for anypony." Colgate let go and wiped her eyes. They had arrived at Colgate's house.

"I guess I'll pack a bag, I'll be back in five minutes."

"Take your time Colgate. I'll wait." Colgate nodded and stepped inside. Twilight waited until the door closed and then looked around. Today had started out wonderful, sunny and clear. Now, well into the early evening, the Pegasai were beginning to collect the clouds for the planned showers tonight. A few ponies still wandered about, but not too many.

She watched the pegasai work. Rainbow Dash had put in for a few vacation days so Raindrops was in charge of the weather team. Rainbow Dash meanwhile was in Manehatten with Fluttershy for a convention where they would release the newest Daring Do book.

Twilight let her thoughts wander for a bit. Thinking of everything and nothing, this and that. A few minutes later she heard the door creek open behind her and turned. Colgate stood behind her with her saddlebags. They were a little farther back then they should have been. Colgate had put them like that in order to cover her flank from suspicious questioning.

"Ready?"

"I guess so. I'm all packed at least."

"Great, let's go." They began walking to the library. Colgate a step behind Twilight. Twilight glanced back and saw Colgate's head lowered. She looked to be deep in thought. She looked up and Twilight turned back to look ahead of her.

They had arrived at the Library by this time. Twilight opened the door and stepped inside.

"Well, here we are. Make yourself at home. You can stay in the guest bed tonight."

"Thanks Twilight."

"Do you want some dinner? I can whip something up pretty quick."

"That sounds good. I havn't eaten in Celestia knows how long." Colgate looked around. "By the way, where's Spike?"

"Oh, he's away for a while. The Princess needed him to do some royal buisiness involving dragons."

"Nothing too dangerous, I hope?"

"Shouldn't be. This is a different group of dragons than the ones he went with during the migration. These ones are more peaceful and scholarly. They're inventors and are rumored to have created the first basis for writing."

"Interesting."

"I know, problem is that with Spike gone I don't have an assistant anymore."

"Welcome to the average pony's world." Colgate rolled her eyes.

Twilight chuckled. She was just glad that Colgate was happy again. This whole situation had left her feeling depressed, but even without a cutie mark a pony's personality doesn't change. Twilight walked into the kitchen and began preparing dinner. She wasn't a great cook like Spike, but she knew her way around the kitchen.

Colgate busied herself with some light reading. She was in a library, after all.

"Wow. I never knew that about medival equestrian dentistry."

"What didn't you know?"

"Before they had things like novacaine and nitrous oxide, patients either went without anastetia or they were knocked out completely."

"Sounds painful. Anyway, dinner is ready."

"Great. What are we having?"

"Vegitable soup."

"Mmm. Delicious." Colgate followed Twilight into the kitchen. There, sitting on the table, were two steamy bowls of broth. The two mares sat down and ate in silence. After dinner, Colgate began to feel upset again. She felt like her whole life was changing forever. The warm soup didn't help much.

"So, we should probably get to bed." Twilight said. "We have a long day ahead of us tommorow."

"Why's that? Are you going to help me fill out new job applications?" Colgate sighed.

"Um, no. We're going to Canterlot, remember? The detective gave me a note that said someone there can help us."

"Doubt it."

"You don't have to be so negative. I'm trying my best to help you, the least you can do is help me help you."

"I appreciate it, Twilight. I really do, but what if it doesn't work out? What if we never catch this guy and I never get my Cutie Mark back? What will happen then?"

"I- I don't know, Colgate. I just don't know."

"Exactly. My life is ruined, I'm nothing now. Everything I've worked so hard for is wasted because some thief stole my very identity." She turned towards the guest room. "Now i'm going to bed. Goodnight." She stomped up the stairs. Twilight flinched as the guest room door slammed shut.

"I'm sorry Colgate." Twilight whispered. "I guess I don't know how you feel."

Author's Note:

I'm not all that happy with this chapter. The wording isn't quite what I wanted and it wasn't as long as I had hoped. This can pretty much be summed up to three reasons why: 1. school, 2. Work, and 3. My own writer's block and laziness. Hopefully I will not take so long to post new chapters in the future. I have everything planned out in my head but it's when I go to type it that I get stumped. Also, this chapter was submited on my Ipod so if it has any major errors let me know so I can fix them! Thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 3

The next morning, Twilight and Colgate awoke early. Colgate immediatly trotted to the bathroom with her bag. Twilight heard the telltale sound of her brushing her teeth. She decided to pack a bag of her own. Who knew how long they would be in Canterlot?

Twilight thought back to last night. Colgate was really upset, which was completely understandable, but what she didn't get was why she would be perfectly fine one moment, and then be a sad slump of depression and anger the next. It didn't really make much sense, but then again, Twilight wasn't the one who lost the very thing that made her who she is.

"Wow. She is taking a really long time in there." Twilight whispered to herself. It had been ten minutes already, how long does it take to brush your teeth? She approached the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Colgate, are you alright in there?"

"Mmm ffnn twwllhhht."

"What was that? I'm coming in!" Twilight opened the door slowly. She looked at Colgate with curiosity.

"What in the name of Celestia is that thing, Colgate?"

"Ith a, way a mihet." *Ptoo!* "Sorry. It's a device I invented so I can see my mouth easier when I brush. It's a bunch of mirrors on a metal frame, I just put it on and presto! I can get every nook and cranny of my mouth."

"Impressive. When did you make this?"

"About a year ago. It works great, but sometimes the metal pinches my cheeks and gums."

"Heh. I guess you could say it's a bit... Cheeky?" Twilight laughed at her own terrible joke.

"That wasn't funny."

"I thought it was."

"Shouldn't we be going? We have a long trip ahead of us."

"Er, Right. Let's go." And there goes another mood swing. Twilight picked up her bags and walked out the door. Colgate followed, her head hung low.

She's acting like Pinkie Pie when Discord controlled us. She thought.

The train depot wasn't that far from the library, Twilight kind of wished it was, the trains would sometimes interupt her while studying or sleeping, but she was also thankful it wasn't that far. She didn't know how long Colgate would go along for the ride in the mood she's in.

Maybe this was how Colgate dealt with grief? It was strange. But not as strange as her own solution to stress. She still hadn't gotten Smartypants back from Big Macintosh yet. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind and turned to face Colgate.

"We're here. Are you ready for this?"

"Heh. Sure. I'm absolutly completely ready for the inevitable failure that will follow." Colgate rolled her eyes and walked up to the platform. The train was running late. That worried Twilight. She wanted to help Colgate out, but she couldn't if she didn't want to help herself.

Then the worst possible scenario happened. On the crowded station platform, Colgate's bad attitude and blank flank stuck out like a sore hoof.

"Mommy, why doesn't that pony have a cutie mark?" A filly said to her mother.

"What happened to her?" A stallion said to a mare.

"Stop it." Colgate whispered.

"Wow, a adult mare without a cutie mark."

"What in the world?"

"I said stop." Colgate said, a little louder this time. She gritted her teeth, her brow furrowed in anger.

The talk continued. Colgate felt eyes on her. No matter where she turned. The crowd began to close in, their questions hitting her hard. Colgate was trapped. Her anger built up. Her jaw hurt from clenching and her head was pounding.

"I SAID STOP IT!" She yelled. Twilight stood in front of her.

"Colgate, what's wrong? Colgate!"

"Not my fault. That bloody crook."

"Colgate! Snap out of it!" Twilight yelled. The blue mare looked up in suprise. The crowd vanished, fading away with her anger.

"Huh? What? Where's the crowd? What's going on?"

"What are you talking about? We're the only ponies here!"

"What? No, there was a crowd, t-they were making fun of me."

"Colgate, focus. Look around. There is nopony here but you and I."

"They s-seemed so real. I don't know what happened."

"Probably stress related hallucinations. How well did you sleep last night?"

"Ugh. Not well at all. I kept having nightmares about being attacked."

Twilight was going to say something, but the loud sound of a train whistle interupted her.

"That's our ride. You can sleep on the train if you like. It'll take us a few hours to get to Canterlot."

"Y-yeah. Okay." She followed Twilight slowly. They showed their tickets and entered the passenger car. They took their seats and waited to leave.

"Twilight?" Colgate said after a minute, "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I'm just really scared."

"It's alright. We'll get through this. Try to get some rest, I'm going to do a bit of research while we travel."

"Research?" Colgate questioned.

"Yup. I brought a few books that I think might help us out." Twilight opened her bags and pulled out several large books. They looked old.

"Are those spellbooks?"

"Yes, yes they are. These are some of the ones I keep in my private collection at the library. A few are from my days at the University."

"Neat. I've really wanted to try to improve my magic a bit, but I never had the time. Maybe I could borrow them sometime?"

"Sure. After we get this situation sorted out. Try to get some sleep."

"Yeah. Goodnight." Colgate yawned and layed down on the seat. She closed her eyes and was asleep in minutes.

"Okay. Let's see..." Twilight whispered, flipping To a book's table of contents, "I don't know what we'll be getting into, so I don't know what spells I'll need. I guess I should start from the beginning."

Chapter One: Utility Spells

Utility type spells are low level spells that most unicorns can learn easily and use efficiently. They are very useful in daily life and can be very handy in an infinate amount of situations. The most basic utility spells are levitation and illumination...

Chapter 4

The train whistle sounded, stirring Colgate from her slumber. She stretched and rubbed her eyes. Twilight was still reading her books. This one was really old looking. It looked to be a leather cover and smelled a bit musty. Colgate could barely make out the title because of how worn out it was.

"Ugh, Twilight? I don't think you'll need to know about the ancient art of whiskey brewing."

"Huh? Oh. I didn't want to grab this book. I thought I'd grabbed a different one that looked the same. It does make me kind of thirsty though."

"Me too. I could really use a stiff drink."

"Don't worry about it. We'll get through this."

"I hope you're right. Oh, it looks like we're here." Colgate gestured out the window. The station platform approached quickly. the train lurched as the brakes were applied. Twilight put her books away. They stood and approached the door quickly. Twilight was eager to get going and find this pony to help them.

"Excuse me." a mare pushed by them. Her face was covered by the brim of her hat, and she wore a grey suit to cover her body. Her voice was unusually deep for a mare. It didn't sound real. She left the train and walked off the platform.

"That was strange." Twilight whispered. "I feel that I know that pony from somewhere."

"Yeah, me too." Colgate responded slowly. She shrugged and walked off the train. She slid her bags farther back to cover up her flank once she saw how busy the station was. She swallowed hard and walked past the group of ponies waiting to board the train. They walked through the large walkway to the main chamber of the Canterlot Travel Plaza. Bueautiful archways supported the stained glass dome above. The dome shined with light from the late morning sun. Ponies everywhere were going about their business. Some were standing around talking while others were buying travel tickets or boarding trains or airships to all corners of equestria. Twilight led Colgate through the plaza, knowing very well how to manuever through the large crowds. The scene seemed to put Colgate at ease. Nopony was paying attention to her, thankfully, and she thought the place was beautiful.

Colgate suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. She felt like she was being followed. She looked around in fear. Then she saw somepony looking her way. The same mare from before, standing near a newsstand. When she saw Colgate looking over she quickly turned away, pretending to be interrested in some gossip magazine. Colgate trotted to catch up with Twilight.

"Twilight? I think that mare from before is following us."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she's actually following us."

"What?" Twilight turned around quickly. The mare tried to hide behind a trashcan but failed. She looked frantically for a way out but couldn't find any.

"Hey!" Colgate yelled. "Why are you following me?"

"Ugh, Who me? I-I'm not..."

"Yes you are! I saw you looking at me and now you're following us!"

"I, ugh, um. Alright. Fine! I'm following you! But I have a good reason!" The mare took off her hat. and shrugged.

"LYRA!?!" Colgate and Twilight yelled at the same time.

"NO! SHHH! It's Agent Heartstrings!"

"Agent Hearstrings? What the hay are you talking about?"

"Look, we can't talk here. Let's go someplace more quiet."

Lyra led the others to a hotel near the station. They checked into a room and Twilight and Colgate sat down on the couch while Lyra sat in the chair next to it.

"Okay, here's what's going on." Lyra started. The way she was sitting made it easy to gesture with her hooves."Basically, I'm working with the Equestrian Intelligence Agency to find this pony that's been stealing cutie marks. We don't know how he's doing it or why he's doing it, all we know is when he takes them, his victims change." She looked to Colgate.

"What? I havn't changed at all! I mean, sure I've been a little moody lately but I just lost my cutie mark!"

"Moodiness is just one of the symptoms we've seen. Others include a burning pain in the flank and hallucinations. And low self esteem, but I don't think that can be considered a symptom.

"Oh. Now that you mention it, I have had hallucinations. Like at the train station." She looked to Twilight, who only shrugged. "I have a question though,"

"Shoot. I'll tell you what I can."

"Why are you working with the government? I thought you hated anything federal like this because you're one of Ponyville's biggest conspiracy theorists."

"That's a long story. Basically they asked me to do this because I have a way of figuring these things out. Plus they kind of promised to forgive my minor criminal record."

Colgate and Twilight stared at her.

"Okay, okay! I get arrested a lot! nothing too major, just tresspassing and snooping around things I shouldn't! It's in my nature!" She threw her hooves in the air. The chair flipped over and fell with a crash.

"Lyra. Calm down. You're being spastic again."

"Sorry. Anyway, we need to find this guy. He's ruining lives and needs to be stopped. So I need you to tell me everything you know about it, alright Colgate?" Lyra pulled out a notepad and a pencil from the endtable near the now-righted chair.

"Okay. I'm getting really tired of telling this story, but here it goes: I was walking down the street after closing my office when I was attacked from behind by a weak stallion with bad breath who coughed and weezed a lot. Then he put a rag to my mouth and I passed out. I woke up tied to an operating table, he used his magic to remove my cutie mark, it hurt, I passed out again, then I woke up in a bush. That's where Twilight found me."

"Actually the Crusaders found you. I just took you to the hospital."

"Right. That's all I know."

"Did you get a look at him? Anything would help." Lyra asked.

"No, he was wearing a mask when I woke up."

"That actually gives us some more information. The other victims I talked to said that he was a brown stallion with bad teeth and a hacking cough. Most of them saw his face, so the fact that he was wearing a mask means he didn't want you to see his face. That could mean two things." Lyra leaned foreward in the chair. "Either he just doesn't want anypony else to see his face because he'll be recognized." She smiled. "Or he did it just for you because you know him in some way."

"Wait, I know him?"

"Do you? Do you know anypony with a hacking cough, bad teeth, and a scar across his nose?"

"No, not that I-" Colgate stopped short, sudden realization on her face. "Sweet Celestia. I know who's doing this."

Chapter 5

It was obvious. Colgate didn't know why she didn't realize it before. The raspy breath, the weezing cough, the scar on his face, it was so obvious that Colgate felt like hitting herself over it. she didn't though. Lyra and Twilight were looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell them who it was.

"Well?" Lyra broke the silence, showing once again that she was the spastic, energetic one of the group. "Who is it?"

"That new patient I told you about. What was his name again?" Colgate wracked her brain for ideas on the stallion's name. Nothing came to mind. "Why can't I remember his name? I remember all my patients' names!"

"Don't worry, we have a description and you know him. That gives us something to go off of, right?" Twilight looked to Lyra. The Green mare looked at her notebook and nodded.

"It gives us something, but not much. From what we've figured out, he's moving in a circular motion cross Equestria. First case was in Manehatten, Then Trottingham, Then Maredrid. Each time he picked one pony and took their cutie mark, then disapeared until he struck again in the next town. Ponyville was his last attack, so that means next on his list should be Canterlot. That's why I was here before you."

"That makes sense, I guess." Colgate shrugged. "But Canterlot is a big city, how will we find him? And how do we know he's even here?"

"We don't know if he's here, however, most criminals have a pattern they go by, they like to stick to their comfort zone. So that probaby means this one is no different, therefor we've predicted his pattern. His way of attack has also lended itself to us figuring out his comfort zone. He likes to stalk the victem for a few days, then strike them from behind when they least expect it."Lyra tapped her chin. "I'm guessing he'll go after somepony lower on the social foodchain. If he were to attack one of Canterlot's elite, He'd end up having a lot of attention drawn to himself, and that isn't his style from what we've figured."

Colgate and Twilight stared at Lyra. They were in complete shock that Lyra, who was obsessed with mythical creatures and a complete nutcase, could be so smart and figure this out. It didn't make sense.Lyra raised an eyebrow at them.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing." Twilight interupted. "What we need is a plan."

"I think I've got one, I'll disguise myself as a lowly street performer and try to catch his attention, then when he attacks, you two pop out to stop him." Lyra rubbed her hooves together maniacly. Her crazyness was reaching an all-time high right now.

"Um, Lyra? No offence, but you pretty much are just a street performer with some crazy hobbies." Colgate said. Lyra glared daggers at her. Colgate knew, however, that the threatening look was just a show. She had known Lyra too long and Lyra knew what she said was true, she was even proud of it, but it was still a little hurtful hearing it from somepony else.

"Anyway. I think this will work. we just need to do some more investigation to see if he's even here, and where in Canterlot he's working. Like you said, Canterlot is a big city, and he could be anywhere."

There was a knock at the door to the room. The sudden noise caused all three mares to jump in their seats.Lyra recovered from the suprise irst and got up to open the door. She opened the door and standing there waiting was-

Nopony. There was nopony there. Lrya peeked up and down the hallway but didn't see anypony. She turned to shut the door but saw a white peice of paper pinned to it. It wasn't there before, so Lura picked it up with her magic. On the note, in almost illegible writting, was a simple phrase. It could have been written by anypony, but Lyra had a feeling she knew who it was. That meant her was near. The pony they were after was here.

The note read: "Leave me alone!"

Lyra ran back into the room and dove over the couch, which was facing away from the door, dramaticlly. Twilight and Colgate rolled their eyes in unison as the mare got up and stood in front of them.

"He's here!" She yelled in their faces. The other two recoiled but recovered, and Colgate was about to say something about Lyra's breath, but once she understood what Lyra meant, she felt that the comment was unneccessary.

"He's here?" Twilight said. "Where?"

"He left this note on our door! He's somewhere nearby!"

"What are we waiting for? Lets get him!"

"I don't know where he went, all I know is he left this note on our door." Lyra walked towards the door, determination plastered on her face. "But as Celestia as my wittness, I'm going to find this scumbag and let him have it!"

"Lyra wait! It's dangerouse to go alone! Take us!"

"Really? A legend of Zelda reference?"

"What?"

"Nevermind, lets go."

The three mares left the room and ran down the hallway, hoping they could catch this criminal before he got away.

Author's Note

Once again, not that happy with this chapter. It started out well, but it took me a while to finish because of school and work. What I need to do is figure out a solid schedual and keep at it. Anyway, thanks for reading and keep me informed on how to make it better!

Chapter 6

They ran down the hallway, being that they were on the fifth floor of the hotel, they figured there were only two ways out. The elevators, or the stairs.

"I'll cover the stairs, you two guard the elevators." Lyra yelled as she broke away from the others. They looked back at her and Colgate shrugged. The elevators were just ahead. The hotel had three sets of glass elevators, and currently, one was out of order. The other two were on different floors, Twilight realized that maybe the criminal had already gotten away. They stopped in front of them to catch their breath. Twilight peared over the railing at the courtyard below. The hotel had a fountain, and it was surrounded by tables and chairs. A few ponies sat at them but the hotel seemed empty for this time of day.

Colgate coughed. Twilight turned back to her.

"What are we going to do?" Colgate asked. "Unless Lyra got him he's already gotten away from us."

"I know. Let me think." Twilight turned back to the elevators, looking them over. Suddenly, she got an idea. "The security footage! The elevators have security cameras! Lyra probably has the authority to get that footage from the hotel security."

"You're right, I do have that authority." Lyra trotted up to them, panting. "I didn't find him, but the elevators arn't the only place in this hotel to have cameras. Every hallway has them, as well as the lobby and the courtyard. The pool and the gym probably have them too."

"So you're saying we can watch the footage to figure out where this guy went and what he looks like."

"Exactly. The hotel manager and head of security have to be present, but I have a bagde that gives me access to these kinds of things."

"Then what are we waiting for? Lets go talk to the manager!" Colgate pushed the button on the elevator. They waited a few minutes, then were greeted by the cheerful ding of the doors opening. Twilight stepped in first, then she remembered something about glass elevators that may be an issue.

She was terrified of them. It wasn't the height, or the fact that it was glass, Twilight just didn't like glass elevators. They had taken the stairs on their way up to the room, but now the elevator door was shutting with the three ponies trapped inside it. Twilight did the only thing she could. She snapped. Jumping away from the glass, she clawed at the metal doors, screaming profanity and yelling about how they were going to die. Lyra and Colgate could only watch as she did so. When the elevator finally landed on the ground floor,Twilight ripped open the doors with her magic and bolted out of the death trap. She pressed herself against the opposite wall, gasping for air and holding her head in her hooves.

"I hate elevators" she muttered to herself over and over again. "I hate them so much."

"Twilight? Are you alright?" Colgate carefully tapped her with a hoof. "Please tell me you're alright."

"I'm fine, I think I'm fine."

"What the hay was that? Why didn't you tell is you were afraid of elevators?"

"Um, I forgot." Lyra facehoofed. Colgate raised an eyebrow.

"You forgot?"

"Yeah. I guess I did. I havn't ridden in an elevator in years."

"Why are you so afraid of them?"

"Its a long story from when I was a filly."

"We've got all night."

"We need to watch that security footage!"

"I'll go get that in a minute. You need to calm down. Tell us what happened." Lyra patted Twilight on the back. She looked up and sighed.

"It started when I was just a filly..."

Flashback to Canterlot, Twenty years ago

Twilight Sparkle waited by the elevator doors. Her back was heavy with books and she couldn't carry them all down the stairs. The door opened with a cheerful ding, and the doors opened. Ponies in suites rushed out in a hurry to continue with their buissiness. Twilight waited patiently until all the grown-ups had left before she stepped into the metal box. Cheery music played as she reached up and pushed the button for the ground floor. The door slid shut and the elevator jerked to begin its decent.

Suddenly, there was a rough jerk and the lights went out. The filly screamed and the elevator jerked again. Twilight felt the elevator began to fall. An emergency alarm sounded and a red light flashed. The filly screamed again, and in her fear lost control of her bladder. The dial indicating the floor the elevator was on rapidly moving towards the one. Twilight closed her eyes and wondered if the impact would hurt.

The elevator suddenly stopped. Twilight opened her eyes and saw a faint glow from the other side of the doors. The elevator shifted again, and Twilight screamed again, but it only moved a few feet. Twilight heard yelling from the other side of the door and the glow intensified. The door was wreched open and dust flew around. Twilight looked up and saw a young stallion standing in front of the door while several other ponies stood by. The colt was sweating from using so much magic to stop an elevator from collapsing, but he ran into the box and grabbed the filly, pulling her out of the metal tomb and holding her tight.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. His voice was warm and comforting.

"I think so." Twilight whispered. She felt pressure in her eyes and began crying. The mysterious hero that saved her held her tight, he didn't mind that his suite was being soaked by tears, he just held her tight and let her cry.

A few ponies began to applaud, soon, the crowd all began to applaud the stallion. A few ran up and tried to congradulate him, but he ignored them, he just held that filly as tight as he could until Twilight's parents came and got her. They thanked the hero, he claimed that he did it out of instinct, and that he was just doing what had to be done. They asked him his name, and in an embarassed tone he replied.

"My name is Fancy Pants, but please, I don't need any attention for this."

Twilight always knew Fancy Pants wasn't like the other rich and famous in Canterlot.

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! I took a bit of a break for the holidays and stuff. I'll *hopefully* start writting better, longer, more interesting chapters and write better in general. This chapter doesn't have much to do with the actuall plot of the story, but the idea popped into my head and I just rolled with it. So yeah, enjoy.

Chapter 7

While Twilight was having her mental breakdown, across town, a grey earth pony mare was packing up her cello. She latched the case and slung it over her back, turning around to face the backstage door. Another concert had come and gone and Octavia still felt the same. She was no closer to making it than before the concert, only a few ponies had actually stopped her to compliment her on her hard work. She groaned and rubbed her sore hoof, the last peice of the concert had really givin her a cramp. Octavia stepped lightly on that hoof and opened the door. She wished she was a unicorn. Oh what she'd give to be a unicorn, but sadly, fortune did not favor her. She pushed these thoughts aside and stepped out into the alleyway behind the concert hall. The sun was high, but the alley was still caught in the shadows of it. There was a slight buzzing in the air, Octavia's ears turned in all directions to find the source, but unfortunately she could not find it. Then, from behind her, there was a flash of light. Octavia jumped and turned around.

The flash of light was caused by a teleportation spell. There was a lone stallion weakly standing up after being on the ground. He was a unicorn, obviously, with a brown coat and a scar across his face. He began to cough wildly. Octavia stood by in suprise, not sure of what to make of the situation. it was obvious he had some lung problems, no pony had coughing fits that bad for that long.

The stallion wiped his nose and looked around. He mumbled something to himself about teleportation. His eyes met Octavia's and he gasped, earning him another fit of coughing. Octavia raised an eyebrow and watched.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm-*cough*-fine, don't worry 'bout me." His voice was rough, his throat was probably ravaged from all that coughing.

"That doesn't sound healthy. Perhaps you should see a doctor?"

"No, no, trust me, I'm fine. No need for a doctor 'ere."

"Alright then. Would you care to explain why you apeared in this alley?"

The stallion froze. "I...uh, I was um..."

"Well?"

"I was trying to catch up with you."

"Oh really?" Octavia wasn't buying the lie."

"Uh, yeah. I saw you were a musician, and I wanted to talk to you 'bout it."

"Nice try, but you're up to something. I'm going to the police."

The stallion suddeny got very angry. "No you ain't. You ain't goin' nowhere." His horn glowed and Octavia began running. She ran down the alley towards the open street, dropping her cello and yelling for somepony to help her.

The stallion grabbed her with his magic and put a silence spell on her. She tried to scream but no sound came out. Even her thoughts were silent. She tried to escape but couldn't get away. The stallion approached her and pulled a rag out of nowhere.

"I told you you ain't goin' nowhere." He looked furious. A million different scenarios ran through Octavia's mind. Would he mug her? Rape her? Murder her? All three? Her heart raced, her breathing was spastic.

He put the rag over her face and she passed out.

***********

Octavia slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark and cold, and she heard the echo of water dripping from the ceiling. She looked around frantically. She tried to move but found she couldn't. She was strapped down with leather around her hooves. She yelled for somepony to help her, but of course, there was no reply.

There was a glow around the corner. The glow grew brighter as the source came closer. The room began to light up and Octavia realized she was in a cave. That explains the dripping water, but these are the largest crystals she had ever seen. Some towered well over ten feet tall, other jutted out from every nook and cranny in the cold stone, causing eerie shadows when the light fell on them. There was another cough, and another. The sound echoed off the walls, and they sounded far worse down here then they did in the alleyway.

The stallion who had kidnapped her appeared around the corner. He was using his horn for light and he looked worn out. He walked over to Octavia and smiled.

"Hello dear Octavia, so kind of you to join me." He chuckled, triggering another coughing fit. "Sorry 'bout the coughing, the moisture down 'ere really gets to me."

"W-what do you want from me?" Octavia swallowed hard, she was terrified. The stallion grinned, showing his terrible teeth. He came within intches of her face, whispering creepily.

"I want your Cutie Mark."His breath smelled like a dead thing, no, a thousands dead things stuffed into one big dead thing.

"Why?"

"To add it to my collection, of course.You see, Octy, I collect cutie marks. Its a very interesting hobby, you can tell a lot from a pony by their cutie mark, and I can't collect them while still on a pony's body, so I take them."

"Why would you do that? How can you do that?"

"Magic, my dear." He turned away from her, walking over to a metal table. The table was covered in strange objects and tools, most of them looked like medival torture devices. Octavia watched in fear as he picked up some old rusty pliers thathad a serrated edge. He walked over to octavia and approached her flank.The pliers made and active buzzing sound that grew louder as it came closer.

He touched the tool to her skin. It grew unbearily hot and vibrated rapidly. He opened them up and then they jumped from his grip and lunged into her skin. She screamed and the pliers cut her skin around her trebble cleft mark. the pliers dropped to the ground with a clang. Blood pooled around them. Octavia was crying, she had just had her skin ripped from her body by a magical tool. The stallion wasn't done yet, he picked up the evil device and took his time wipping the blood from it. He set it back on the table and picked up another one that looked like medical rib spreaders. He approached her again and put it over her bleeding flank. She winced, and the tool got hot, like the other one. It vibrated and the spreaders dug into the skin around her wound. It pulled shut, pulling her skin over the wound, and the stallion walked back to the table. He Picked up a needle and thread. It was a bone needle stained red and the thread seemed to glow in the darkness of the cave. He threaded the needle and came back over to Octavia.

She had stopped crying, she couldn't cry anymore, and her face was stained with tears. The Stallion came up and begain to push the needle into her flank. She winced again, and he pulled the needle out. he did it again on the other side of her wound, closing it up. She looked down as he finished. He removed the spreaders and the thread began to glow. It sunk into her skin and dissapeared, and the wound healed completely. She gasped in amazement, and the scar faded as well. What remained was her skin and grey coat, no evidence of anything else.

"There, all done. Now when you wake up, you won't remember most of this."

"No, please! What did you do to me? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"

"Shh, shh. all in good time, now go to sleep." He placed a rag over her mouth, and she passed out again.

Author's Note

Wow, this chapter took way to long to write. Also, some of this chapter sounds like a bad clopfic, (minus the actual sexual content, of course) so get your mind out of the gutter! :P

~~Also, Longest Chapter!~~ (Not anymore)

Thanks for reading, and as usual, tell me how to improve it!

Chapter 8

Lyra watched the video footage for the umpteenth time. Her eyes were glued to the screen and dark bags were forming under them. She knew what would happen. The stallion would pin the note to the door, knock, then teleport away. Lyra would then open the door and find the note, ten seconds later, the three of them would run out of the room in an attempt to find him.

This was getting old.

Twilight was sitting on the couch sipping hotel tea to calm her nerves. She was still a little worked up about the elevator incedent. The tea was terrible, nothing like Spike made, but it would have to do. She looked over to colgate, who was on the verge of falling asleep. It had been several hours and Lyra was still staring at the screen, looking for any indication of where this pony had gone. Twilight thought back to the elevator. When they heard her screaming, hotel security and the hotel manager had rushed over. After an inspection by the maintanance pony, it was determined that the elevator was unusable due to Twilight ripping open the doors. The manager was angry about that and had threatened to kick them out and have them arrested. Lyra flashed her badge at that point, claiming "the government will pay for any inconviniences this missap may have caused, and I request to see your security footage of the fifth floor, west wing."

Five minutes later, Lyra was sitting in front of a Television watching the footage on an endless loop.

Lyra was getting tired. Twilight decided to brew some coffee for her. The hotel room had a coffee maker and those little packets of ground coffee, Twilight was more of a tea pony, but Lyra enjoyed coffee.

She glanced over to Colgate. The blue pony was leaned over the arm of the coach, her mouth open and drool dripping out as she snored quietly. For the first time since Colgate had been attacked, everything was at peace. Twilight smiled to herself and poured the coffee into a mug, bringing it to Lyra. She took it and smiled, but kept her eyes on the screen.

"You should really take a break, staring at a tiny screen like that for hours isn't good for your eyes."

"Meh. I'll get glasses when I need them." Lyra's 'for the moment' attitude seemed funny to Twilight. It was one of those things that her perfectionist, plan-everything-five-years-in-advance mind.

There was a knock at the door, causing Twilight and Lyra to jump in their seats. Twilight got up to answer it.

The hotel manager was standing in the hallway. He looked bored, but with a hint of hostility towards Twilight. He cleared his throat and gave her a peice of paper.

"Telegram came for Miss Heartstrings." He said coldly. Upon hearing her name, Lyra looked away from the screen. She blinked and rubbed her eyes before standing up to get the telegram. Maybe she should take a break from the screen. She blinked a few more times to focus her burning eyes and took the paper.

Theres been another attack. Get to east side hospital immediately. Victem's name is Ovtavia. Ash-grey earth pony with a Trottingham accent. Being kept in north wing, room 23B.

Thats all the note said. Lyra blinked again and looked around. She cleared her throat and walked over to the screen. Turning off the Television, she looked to Twilight.

"Wake up Colgate. We need to get to East Side Hospital pronto."

"Why? What happened?"

"Another attack. Somepony named Octavia."

"Lets go then." Twilight shook colgate awake, and after much protesting, she finally opened her eyes. She yawned and stretched.

"What's going on?" She asked sleepily. She rubbed her eyes and worked out a crick in her neck from her strange sleeping position.

"Theres been anoter attack, we're going to East side Hospital."

"Alright." Colgate yawned again and made for the door. "I'll meet you two in a taxi."

"Sounds good. Twilight, help me with my stuff." Lyra heard a grunt behind her. She turned around and the hotel manager was still standing there. He had his hoof held out and an eyebrow raised. Lyra rolled her eyes and picked up a few bits from the table. She threw them in his direction. She didn't even pay attention as they bounced off his face and clattered to the floor.

The manager said some harsh things under his breath, but picked up the coins and left the room. Lyra mumbled something about "greedy, good-for-nothing aristrocrats" But Twilight let it go. She had to agree. For most of her life she had lived in Canterlot, and the only nice ponies she had met were lower class workers or some students at her school.

Lyra picked up her bags and walked out the door. Twilight followed, locking it behind them. They went down the hallway to the lobby. The manager glared at them from behind the desk, but they ignored it and left. Colgate was waiting in a taxi, like she said, and she looked much more awake and anxious.

"Alright. Here's the plan." Lyra said once they got in the cab. "We get to the hospital, find this pony, get as much info as we can from her, and hunt this sucker down."

"So the same thing we've been doing the whole time?" Colgate butted in, earning her a angry glare from Lyra.

"No! Its different. We're actually going to get this guy! We arn't going to sit around in a hotel room waiting for something to happen, we're going to make things happen ourselves."

"Alright. Whatever you say."

"Hey, what's that suppossed to mean?"

"I mean, Oh fabulous leader Lyra, that you wern't the one who had her whole life literally torn from her side. Once you get attacked in a dark alley, let me know."

"Look, I'm trying to help you out here, trying to catch a wanted criminal."

"You're treating it like a big game!"

"I am not! This is how you catch criminals!"

"By sitting in a hotel room for hours doing nothing?"

"You son of a-" Lyra came within inches of Colgate's face.

"Son of a what, you street performer?" Colgate retorted, unaffected by Lyras close proximity.

"Thats pretty funny, coming from a toothpicker."

"Spazotron!"

"Toothpaste addict."

"At least I use toothpaste!"

"Don't even go there! I-" Lyra was interupted by a purple hoof shoved in her mouth. She looked over to Twilight, who was visibly shaking. She had her other hoof in Colgate's mouth.

"Driver," She said calmly. It scared Lyra how calm she was speaking. "Take us to East Side Hospital, please."

"Yes ma'am." The driver galloped away from the hotel. Twilight took a breath and pulled her hooves out of their mouths. She laughed out loud. A spastic, cackling laugh that put fear into the hearts of the other two.

"Heheh, I'm going to go crazy from all this, right girls?" Her eye twitched, her mane was suddenly very messy. She had already lost it, but the others felt it was a bad idea to tell her.

It was going to be a long ride to the hospital.

Author's Note

Hoo boy, couldn't quite get this chapter right. So I gave up. also, insane Twilight.

Chapter 9

Octavia paced back and forth nervously in the hospital room. Her pupils were dialated and she was sweating. She remembered being attacked, and that she woke up in the hospital with her cutie mark missing and doctors asking a lot of questions. Questions she didn't have the answers to at the moment.

She took a breath and thought hard. Something wasn't right about this. This was too wierd. Ponies had been mugged in Canterlot before but none would steal a cutie mark. She didn't even know that was possible. Of course, she didn't know much about magic, being an earth pony and all.

She shook her head and walked over to the window. She peared down below. There was a taxi out in front of the hospital, and three ponies were getting out of it. She couldn't tell from the so high up, but one looked like she was on the brink of insanity, the other two were walking a few steps behind her as they approached the doors, and they kept glancing nervously at each other.

Maybe those two had brought the first one here because of that crazy look. Who knew? Octavia resumed her pacing again and glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. More thoughts ran through her head. How long ago was she attacked? A few hours ago? A few days ago? She had no idea. What she did know was that her life was going to change forever. For starters her Cutie Mark was stolen, then someone stole her cello. She left it in the alley when she was attacked and hasn't seen it since.

She thought about that cello. It had been a gift from her father, years ago. She could still remember the look on his face when she discovered her talent for it. He was so proud, and he rushed her out to the best music shop in Canterlot, getting it special ordered. The dark wood was from a rare tree in the everfree with magical properties. The strings of the finest fiber, the bow made of the same stuff. There was a silver inlay on the body, swirling around forming beautiful shapes. Octavia could have chosen gold, but she didn't like it as a filly. She thought gold was too bright, to flashy. She liked the smooth, calming affect of the silver and how it went with her coat and mane. Sure, she had had other cellos through the years, but that one held a special place in her heart. And now it was gone.

Octavia was overcome with a wave of grief. She had lost the most precious thing she had ever owned. A single tear formed in the corner of her eye as the gravity of the situation finally hit her. A gift from her father was gone, and she was a blank flank. She fell to the bed as more tears came. Soon she was sobbing quietly into the pillow.

She didn't know how long she was crying for, but there was a knock at the door. She sat up and wiped her eyes, taking a moment to compose herself before saying anything.

"Come in." She said after a minute. Her voice was high pitched and squeeky, she hated sounding like this. This os how fillies sounded when they got emotional, not a grown mare.

The door opened slowly and three mares stepped inside. Octavia recognized them as the three who had walked into the hospital about ten minutes ago. The purple one looked much calmer, and was running a brush through her de-frizzled mane as she stepped into the room. The blue one came in next, looking around the room nervously. Finally, the green one came in. She smiled and walked up to Octavia.

"Hello, you are Octavia, am I right?" She said.

"Yes. I am Octavia, and who, may I ask, are you three?" Octavia raised an eyebrow. "I saw you walk into the hospital earlier. You even looked like you were here for the phsyc ward." She pointed at Twilight, who blushed and discarded the brush.

"Yeah. My name's Lyra, this here is Twilight Sparkle, and that there is Colgate. You two have something in common." Lyra smirked, earning her one helluva glare from Colgate. Octavia didn't get what Lyra ment by that, until she looked at Octavia's flank.

"You! Your Cutie Mark!" Her eyes dialated and she pointed.

"Yeah. Thats why we're here. You were attacked last night, wern't you? I was attacked a few nights ago, same pony, and we're trying to find him."

"Really? So this pony is a serial... Um, theif?"

"We don't know what to call him. He is a theif, but nothing like this has ever happened before. I'm not even sure there are laws against this." Lyra closed her eyes in thought. "So far the only thing we can get him on is several accounts of Assult, Kidnapping, and Torture. We may be able to charge him with Illegal use of banned magic, if something like this is illegal."

"No idea. I could look into it while we're here in Canterlot, but that could take weeks to search through the Castle Archives." Twilight said. "But we don't have time for that. We don't even know where this guy even is anymore."

"Right."

Colgate looked around. She was waiting for something to happen, when nothig did, she sighed. "Look, I now you have a lot of questions, but we need your help. You're probably scared, but think about how many more ponies this pony would hurt. We are trying to find him, and bring him to justice. We need your help, will you join us?"

Colgate looked around. The three mares were looking at her hopefully. She thought long and hard about her decision. On one hoof, it was over. She could live without a Cutie Mark. Plenty of ponies succeeded in life without one, and maybe the story of what happened could get this pony without her help.

On the other hoof, he could hurt so many more ponies. These ponies needed her help.

"I have one question. Why not contact the police? Why go out and do this in your own.?"

"I am the police." Lyra said. "Well, I'm working with them. There are a lot of reasons why they arnmt invokved, so they have me, and in return they forgive my small criminal record."

"For what?"

"Tresspassing, breaking and entering, stuff like that."

"I see." Octavia sighed. "Alright. I'm in. Where do we begin?"

"By getting you out of the hospital, then we hunt this guy down like the animal he is."

"Sounds good to me." Octavia extended a hoof, Lyra took it in hers with a look of confidence on her face. They may be back at square one, but they have more help. Things were starting to look up, at least it seemed that way to Colgate.

Author's Note

This one here took for freaking ever. Sorry about the wait, and sorry if you don't like it. I worked on this mostly late at night or early in the morning when I had a bit of time, and most of the time O was exhausted from school/work/lack of sleep, but I've been real busy trying to get my senior project started, looking into colleges, and learning a new position at work. So yeah. Trying to get back on "Schedual" with writing. I've got a few other ideas for other fics I want to write but I don't want to start until this one is done, not that I'm going to rush through this just for the sake of getting it done. That includes going back and editing previous chapters.

On a side note, if anyone is interested in creating cover art for this story, or anything like that, pm me. I'm looking for a new cover pic but can't draw worth beans.

As always, thanks for reading, constructive critiscism is appreciated, and let me know how you feel about this fic!

Chapter 10

The four ponies loaded into a taxi and headed to the alley where Octavia was attacked. She looked around nerviously, like she would be attacked again, before Twilight put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. She sighed and peared down the shadowy corridor. At the end of it was a black case.

Octavia squeeled in delight and pushed past the others to get to her precious cello. She grabbed it and held it close, then set it down an opened it up. She teared up to see it was in one peice and all there. She raised an eyebrow and looked around the case. Under the cello, with just the corner sticking out of it, was a small white peice of paper she didn't remember being there. Octavia pulled it out of the case and held it in front of her.

I'm not a theif, so I couldn't take it. It is safe from harm for a while.

"What in the world..." She read the note again and looked down the alley. The others almost caught up with her, taking their time to look around and investigate a bit. Lyra noticed her look and the paper and trotted the rest of the way to her.

"What's that?"

"A note. Here." She handed it over to Lyra. Lyra took it into her magic and read it. Her eyes got wide, then she raised an eyebrow in confusion, before finally cracking a crooked grin and doing her best to hide a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Twilight asked.

Colgate said nothing but gave her the note. As Twilight read it, Lyra reached into her bag and pulled out the note that was pinned to their door at the hotel.

"Here. Compare the writing." She gave the other one up to Twilight. Twilight scrutinized the notes for what seemed like ages, before a look of both shock and disgust covered her face.

"They're the same."

"Yeah they are."

"I still don't get whats so funny about that."

"The context of the second note is funny. 'I am not a theif', he says. We all know that's a load of crap. Thats why its funny."

"I guess so. But what does he mean by 'Its safe for a while'?" Twilight looked to the cello. "Octavia, do you mind if I perform a simple test on your cello to see if it's enchanted?"

Octavia hesitated for a second. She didn't want anything to hurt her precious instrument.

"I promise it won't damage it in any way, just a small detection spell is all."

"I guess so, just be careful. This is worth more to me than life itself." She pushed the case over to Twilight. Twilight smiled warmly and focused on the case. How did that detection spell go again? Focus on the object, think about the magical radiation coming from it, and viola! She stared at the case and her horn glowed brightly. The first thing she noticed was the trademark yellow and orange glow of Earth pony magic. No suprise there. What she didn't expect was the blue glow of unicorn magic. If it was from the creation of the instument it would have dissipated by now, no this was too fresh.

She focused harder, turning on mental filters to eliminate any unneccessary interference. The glow suddenly became brighter. It was focused directly on the instrument. Twilight thought she had seen something like this before. It was a protection spell, though not a strong one. The pony had put a spell on the cello to protect it, but from what?

Twilight reached out to touch the instument. She had made contact with it when there was a pain in her hoof. With a loud pop, she was sent flying away from the cello and into a wall. She hit with a thud and slid down until she was slouching against it with her eyes closed. The other ran up to her.

"Twilight! Twilight! Can you hear me?" Colgate shook her. She groaned and opened her eyes, then put a hoof to her horn in pain.

"Oww. That hurt."

"Thank Celestia you're alright." The three breathed a sigh of relief. Twilight stood up and glared daggers at the cello.

"That spell is stronger than I thought. Octavia is the only one who can touch the thing, if anypony else does, they're in for a shock. Literaly." Twilight shook her head. "I could probably get rid of it, but I think it'll wear out on its own an we don't have time to worry about removing the enchantment."

"Alright." Lyra pulled out her notebook and pencil. " So we now know he's not afraid to attack spur-of-the-moment when neccessary, he knows some pretty good magic, and he does not consider himself a criminal at all."

"Not true," Octavia said. "He said he wasn't a theif. He could still know what he's doing isn't right."

"Right." Lyra scribbled something else in the notebook. "So we're looking for a brown unicorn stallion with a scar down his face and lung problems. He has some morals, but not much, and has high magical skill. He either stalks his victims or outright attacks when threatened. Anything else I need to know?"

"Actually, yes. I just remembered something." Octavia closed her eyes in thought. "When he attacked me, he took me to some caves or something with rather large crystals everywhere."

"Crystals?" Twilight was very interested. "Crystals in a cave?"

"Yes. Is that significant to the case?"

"The Crystal caves were all but forgotten by most of Canterlot. I had never heard of them until Crysalis kiddnapped me and put me down there. If he's in the caves, then he must have known about them, which means he might be hiding out in them."

"Alright, so we have a place to start investigating. Any Idea where these caves are, Twilight?"

"Right below our feet. All of Canterlot was built on top of them. There's an entrance near the castle, but since the changeling invasion its guarded twenty-four hours a day. Nopony goes in or out without the Princess's approval."

"That could be a problem. Twilight might be able to get permission, being Celestia's student and everything, but the rest of us probably won't be able to get in there as easily."

"Lyra, can't you just flash your badge and get us in?"

"Royal guard holds higher power over the police."

"You're an agent in the FBI."

"Still counts as law enforcement. Still lower than the guard."

"Darn. I guess we'll have to sneak in."

"Sneak in? Isn't that illegal? And how will we get past the guards?" Octavia took a step back from the group.

"Let me handle that." Lyra said. "Its easier than you think it is."

Author's Note

What do you think of this chapter? I'm actually pretty happy with it. I'll try to keep writing like this but I've been having a streaj of good stuff lately that can't last forever. Also, tried to get a little bit o extra magic in this chapter than I normaly do, so enjoy Twilight getting thrown against a wall.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 11

Lyra led the others to a used clothing store near the castle. The colt behind the counter looked bored, but brightened up when they entered. Being in this part of Canterlot he didn't get many customers. Twilight smiled warmly at him but the rest ignored him. They scanned the racks of clothing, looking for something to help them break in to the Crystal caves. Lyra approved and disaproved their clothing selections based on experience with breaking and entering.

"Not dark enough"

"Get rid of the stripes"

"Seriously? No."

After the fifth shirt Colgate had shown her she was getting annoyed. She groaned and turned back to the rack. Scanning the clothing she came across a plain black turtleneck. When she showed Lyra she smiled and nodded her approval. Finally they were making some progress. Lyra explained to the others what they were looking for, black plain clothing that covered them up so they wouldn't be recognized. With that in mind they stocked up on cloths in five minutes.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier? Twilight said as she pulled the black hoodie over her head.

"I figured it was pretty common sense."

"Not all of us have broken into a guarded cave system before." Octavia shifted in the scratchy black sweater.

"Yeah, didn't think of that."

"Okay, so we have out clothes, now what?"

"We pay for them and leave, then wait until night."

The others shrugged. It seemed obvious enough. They paid for the clothes, earning them a suspicious look from the cashier, and left without a word. They went to a motel a few blocks away and waited until the sun started to go down.

"So what's the plan?" Twilight asked.

"We'll have to see what the area is like when we get there. We'll probably need a distraction of some sort, to pull the guards away, then we need to open any locks or barricades they have set up."

"Obviously." Colgate said. "But what should we do specifically?"

"We'll figure that out. Like I said, it depends on the situation. Twilight, where did you say this entrance to the caves was?"

"Pretty close to the castle. Maybe two or three hundred feet. It's actually underneath a statue in the garden. Not suprisingly a statue of a giant crystal."

"Weird. Was that planned out?"

"I don't know. The entrance is actually partially open, the statue base can't cover the whole thing."

"So there's just a hole to some enormous cave system below the whole city in the public statue gardens?" Octavia interupted. The others gave a look of understanding.

"I have no idea how somepony hasn't discovered it already. I spent hours a day in that garden when I lived here and never found it." Twilight shrugged. Maybe it used to be buried before the changling invasion, who knows?"

"Let's get going. It's starting to get dark."

"Right. Let's make sure we have everything we need." Twilight levitated a checklist in front of her. "Dark clothes...check!"

"First aid kit, check!" Lyra added.

"Flashlights and rope, check." Octavia said.

"Food and water for two days, just in case." Colgate opened her bag and inspected the contents. "Check and double check."

"Great. That looks like everything." She rolled the checklist up and stowed it in her bags, which were buldging with supplies. She started for the door.

"Wait!" Colgate yelled. The others turned to look at her. She ran into the kitchen and rummedged through the drawers, finding what she wanted, she smiled and headed back into the living room with the others. "Magic torches." She said, holding up a bunch of crystaline rods. "That way we can follow them to get out of the cave."

"Good thinking. Who knows how deep we'll need to go."

"That's what she said."

"Real mature, Lyra. Real mature."

"Just trying to lighten the mood a bit." She grinned and headed out the door. They walked down the street towards the castle.

Twilight wondered how far they could make it before being stopped by the guards for looking so suspicious. She wondered if this would even work at all. She read books about secret agents who did this sort of thing on a regular basis but she wasn't so sure about it herself. Something was telling her to go back and rethink her plan. She sighed. It was too late for that now.

Lyra felt confident. It wasn't the first time she had to break in to a private place and it certaintly won't be the last. She walked halfway in the street, completely oblivious to any carrages that might come up the road from behind her. Not that she'd care anyway. She was a mare on a mission, nothing could stop her. She was running through a list of combat spells she knew and how to perform them, just in case the collector put up a fight. Knowing his style it didn't seem likely, but he did attack Octavia when he was cornered, she imagined how aggressive he could be when cornered in a dark cave by four angry mares.

Octavia was almost visibly shaking. This was way out of her comfort zone. She was musician, not a spelunker. She was sweating in that ridiculous sweater, her stomach was in knots. She could have sworn she had just whimpered, but nopony else seemed to notice. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath to calm herself. It was just one big performance. Yes, it was just an ensamble that she was part of. She would march onto the stage in confidence, play her beautiful music and leave with her prize. She would get her Cutie Mark back at any cost.

Colgate absent-mindedly ran her tounge across her teeth. Her lips and throat were dry, but that was the least of her concerns. She lagged a step behind the rest of the ponies, obviously the most afraid of all of them. She was grateful for their help, but this whole thing seemed ridiculously uneccessary. She was attacked, and now the four of them were going to climb into a dark, dirty cave to find her attacker and do Celestia knows what to him. She hoped he would give up without a fight, but she was also looking to bust some skulls for what he dis to her. Her fear was suddenly overcome with anger, she gritted her teeth, something that would have made her sensible side cringe at the tooth grinding, and increased her pace to match the others. She was determined to end this stallion even if she had to put him down herself. This had just gotten personal.

Author's Note

This took WAY too long to write, sorry about the long wait but things have been REALLY hectic for me lately. Luckily I graduate in two weeks so school will be out of the picture until college in the fall.

I know I say it a ton, but I really do appreciate you reading this and as always, let me know what you think in the comments.

Chapter 12

The statue garden was in front of them. From their perch on top of a nearby hill, the four mares could see the layout of te garden perfectly. Twilight scanned the grounds, looking for that specific statue they were after. It took her a while to find it. It was farther back from the castle than she remembered it, and the darkness made it that much harder to see. She pointed out the location to the others.

Lyra observed the guards. From what she saw, there were three pairs of guards patrolling the grounds. She could see that one pair passed by the statue every few minutes, that didn't give them much time once they got in there. She looked for a distraction, something, anything to buy them more time. All she could see were statues. The place had minimal plant life, just grass, a few bushes, nothing too useful. Her eyes scanned even harder. Then she saw it. In the back corner was a small apple tree. She could barely make it out, but it had fruit on it. She formulated a plan in her head to get them in.

She gestured for the others to come over to her, when they got there she relayed the plan. "Alright. you see that apple tree over there?"

"Barely"

"That's our key to getting in. All we have to do is use it to cause a distraction. once the guards are distracted, we slip in quietly, get to the statue, and slip into the caves beneath it."

"Alright, who is going to be the distraction?" Twilight asked. "Who would be best at it?"

"Duh, me. I've had experience with this before." Lyra rolled her eyes and pointed a hoof to herself. The others looked at each other and shrugged.

"Are you sure you're up to this? This isn't small-time police here, these are trained royal guards. They will personally rip you to pieces if they feel it's neccessary." Twilight said.

"I got this, no worries." Lyra pulled her hat lower onto her head and grinned. it was almost comical. Twilight nodded and turned back to the garden. "Give me five minutes, than make a move. I don't care what you do, just do something." Lyra said. She ran down the hill to the sculpture garden below.

Lyra got to the fence and peared inside. She snuck around the side until she was near the back of the garden, then she peared inside again. after making sure the coast was clear she climbed the fence, trying to make as much noise as possible to attract the guard's attention. The others could see from a distance that is was working, a pair of guards broke off their patrol and started running toward the area were Lyra was. Once she was over the fence, Lyra picked an apple and took a seat under the tree.

"Halt!" one of the guards shouted.

"Um, I am halted. What's up guys?" Lyra took a bit of the apple and looked the guards over. There were two of them, almost identical in appearance, the only difference was their eyes, one had green eyes and the other had blue. They watched her carefully, bracing themselves to react with any move she would make.

"State your name and business."

"We're going with the serious on duty routine eh? Name, Golden Lyre. Business, enjoying the sculpture garden on a beautiful night."

"We're going to have to ask you to leave, the park is closed until morning."

"What? A mare can't enjoy herself anymore? What am I doing that is so wrong? I'm sitting under a tree in a PUBLIC garden minding my own business, and quite frankly, I'm feeling threatened by your interrogation." The guards looked at each other, one nodded to the other, then stepped away. He took a step back and his horn glowed, a bolt of magic shot into the air and burst into a sparkling blue light. Lyra watched in amazement, then she put two and two together.

It was a signal for backup. Lyra tried to hide her grin, if the rest of the guards were here then they wouldn't be on their patrols, making it easier for the others to sneak in. One of the guards caught her.

"What's so funny?"

"The fact that you need to call for backup for one mare. You guards aren't all you're cracked up to be."

"Just a precaution ma'am. we need to make sure you are no threat to us or the garden."

"I'm one mare. I don't even have anything on me except this half eaten apple."

"Then why are you sneaking into a sculpture garden dressed in black in the middle of the night?" The other guards had arrived at this time.

"Because I have rights! What kind of society are we living in were a pony can't go to a public garden to enjoy herself?"

"Ma'am, just because you have rights does not mean you are above the rules. The rules clearly state that the park is closed after dusk."

"That's a dumb rule. It basically states that the government has control over when and where I can enjoy art that they approve, this isn't a constitutional monarchy, is a downright dictatorship!"

"Ma'am, please calm down." He turned to another guard. "We may need to take her into custody."

"No, I will not calm down. I am being threatened and intimidated and my rights are being violated. I want your names and ranks, all of you, and I want to speak to your superiors."

"I am their superior ma'am. Major Swift Sword."

Lyra stumbled. She was not expecting an officer to be on patrol. It was always just the grunts. The others watched from a distance.

"Alright, its been five minutes, let's go." Twilight said. They moved down the hill toward the gates. Once they got there they climbed over as quietly as they could and made their way to the statue. They could hear Lyra yelling at the guards for something. A quick search confirmed the hole was there, but was closed off by a wooden board. Octavia found the board was only loosely covering the hole, and when they moved it they saw that the opening had been used quite recently. They nodded and Twilight took a deep breath. She lowered herself down into the hole, it was plenty wide for her, and could probably fit two ponies side by side and still have room to move around. What she couldn't believe is that the cave system that Chrysalis used to sneak into Canterlot was so unprotected. Surely they could have afforded something better than a wooden board to cover it. She continue down into the darkness, the others following close behind.

Lyra on the other hoof, was losing her battle to the guards.

"Ma'am, you need to leave the property now or you will be prosecuted by military police."

"But you can't, my freedoms-"

"We've discussed this already, your freedoms are not being violated. Sargent, if you would please escort Miss Lyre from the property."

"Fine, you guys win." She let the guard lead her away from the tree toward the main gates. Then she saw The statue they were looking for and formulated a plan. It was clear the others would have already gone down the hole by now. She waited until they had passed close to it, then she pretended to trip. When the guard tried to help her up she pulled him down and bucked his head. The guard grunted and fell unconscious, Lyra dragged him behind a statue and quickly disappeared down the hole.

Author's Note

I FINALLY got this chapter out. I was really hoping it would not take nearly this long but alas, stuff happens. I start classes next week so who knows when I'll have time to write another chapter. I'm not giving up on this story until it's done though, so keep watch.

As always, let me know what's up with this story, let me know how to improve it.